PROTOCOL: Video-based interventions for promoting positive social behaviour in children with autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Keenan et al. (2021) wrote a plan, not a study.

The plan says they will hunt every paper that used videos to teach social skills to kids with autism.

They will pool the numbers and grade the proof.

Nothing yet.

The paper only tells us what they will do, not what they learned.

Older story-style reviews like Lindsay (2002) and Kleinert et al. (2007) already said modeling helps, but they did not use strict rules.

Keenan’s team will replace those loose stories with a tight Campbell-style count.

Two newer reviews will feed off Keenan’s future data. Miller et al. (2022) counted video-game studies and found small gains; they will likely add Keenan’s VBI papers to their next update.

Lam et al. (2025) hunted ways to help kids brush teeth; they listed video modeling as one tool. When Keenan’s numbers land, Py’s team can swap in stronger evidence.

You can’t change practice today, but you can get ready. Once the full Keenan review drops, you will have clear effect sizes for every video-based social program. Until then, keep using VBIs you already trust, track your data, and watch for the real review.